You'll need a Wowhead or LolKing username to enter the contest to win one of five Enchanted Fey Dragon Mounts, but other than that we don't need any of your personal information, just your opinions on various aspects of your gaming habits and preferences.

Entering our giveaway is quick and easy, just follow the instructions on the giveaway link above. You can earn entries into our giveaway by completing a variety of social actions using our contest app.

(1) Visiting the Blizzard Gear store.

(1) Liking Heroes of the Storm on Facebook

(1) Following Heroes of the Storm on Twitter

(1) Subscribing to Heroes of the Storm on YouTube

(1) Liking Blizzard on Facebook

(1) Liking Hearthstone on Facebook

(1) Liking World of Warcraft on Facebook

(1) Liking Diablo on Facebook

(1) Liking Starcraft on Facebook

(1) Liking Legendary on Twitter

(1) Liking Legendary on Facebook

(3) Sharing a Status Update on Facebook

(3) Sharing an Update on Twitter

Want to get your hands on more great Blizzard products? Head to the Blizzard Gear store now by clicking here.

Warlords of Draenor Weapon Models

We've got a new video for the most recent build's weapon models, and as ever you can check out all the available weapons in our model viewer via our Weapon Model Guide!

Shadowmoon Exploration

The new beta build did not open new zones, but there are new things to discover in existing zones:

We've previously covered some Shadowmoon rares and vanity items, and we have another round. Based on Voxxel's comments, there are many items inside abandoned rooms in Anguish Fortress, an area of Shadowmoon Valley that opens up after extensive questing.

One of the placeholder items from previous builds is now a full-fledged vanity item. Star Chart now summons a map of the stars!

If you're interested in more rare spawns in Shadowmoon Valley, and a zone flythrough, you can check out our post!

Reminder: WoW Launcher Will Be Retired

The Battle.net Desktop App, launched in early 2013, will soon replace the WoW and Stacraft II standalone launchers. The Battle.net Desktop App, required for Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, will soon be the only available launcher, and will continue to run all Blizzard games from one place. It also features news and shop direct links, and battle.net chat. However, the long promised offline mode is yet to appear, and the chat cannot be disabled without closing the app.

Blizzard

In the coming weeks, the World of Warcraft launcher will be automatically upgraded to the Battle.net desktop app. Thereafter, every Blizzard game that previously had its own separate launcher will now be launched directly from one place. But why wait? You can upgrade now!

What does this launcher upgrade do? You can use the app just like the previous World of Warcraft launcher, but Battle.net offers some handy additional features and functionality. You’ll be able to install games and patches directly from within the app and—if you choose to leave the app running on your desktop—keep them up-to-date automatically even when you’re away from your computer. It’s entirely up to you if you want to leave the app running, and you can exit it at any time. You’re also able to manage each update manually by pause and resuming again when you’re ready.

Log In Once to Play Any Blizzard Game
The new single sign-on functionality allows players to log in to the desktop app once to access World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and the upcoming Heroes of the Storm. This way, you can play any of your Blizzard games directly from the desktop app without having to enter your login credentials every time you want to start a game. In addition, you also have the option to stay logged in for up to 30 days, so you won’t need to re-verify your credentials every time you start the app.

Keep Up with the Latest Community News
It’s easy to keep up on all of the latest developer insights, previews, community news, and more in the News section right within the Battle.net app. The app allows you to see all game news or sort by the game you’re most interested in.

Friends and Social

You’ll also be able to chat with your Battle.net friends directly from the desktop app for Battle.net. To get started, simply look for the Friends icon in the upper-right of Battle.net the next time you log in. Clicking the icon will open up your Battle.net friends list, where you’ll be able to see their status and access a number of handy communication tools, including:

Chat with Battle.net friends. Open a chat window on your desktop. Your messages will show up in any Blizzard game your friend happens to be playing at the time.

Send and accept friend requests. Click the Add a Friend button and enter your friend’s BattleTag or email address to send them a friend request, or use the new People You May Know list. You can also right-click a friend’s name for more options.

Add Favorite Friends. Drag a friend’s name to the new Favorites section of your friends list, keeping your closest friends even closer.

Comments

Comment by bubsie

Comment by palspal

on 2014-07-13T03:23:53-05:00

Oh man I'm so excited this is why I love this site! When will the winners be announced?

Comment by kragthang

on 2014-07-13T03:42:59-05:00

Just a side note concerning the survey: When you are asking for people's income, maybe you could include the currency (I wasn't sure what you were looking for... USD? EURO?) and whether you are asking for net or gross income. I think depending on how the participant interprets this question it might make a huge difference. Especially since the survey was about consumer habits, which are probably linked to the income one has.

Comment by bakhtarrh

on 2014-07-13T05:12:10-05:00

I wonder where the survey's results are sold to.

This is something Nintendo or Sony sales&marketing would pay good cash for. Maybe they already do.

Comment by Daem8n

on 2014-07-13T06:22:35-05:00

Hope to win this cutie.

Comment by Necarius

on 2014-07-13T07:17:55-05:00

I don't see why everyone thinks the new blasted launcher is required. I can still launch all of my games just fine without it, I just made a shortcut to the direct exe. Sure, you still need it to update stuff, but other than that it's not needed.

Comment by turulo

on 2014-07-13T09:22:23-05:00

I like the launcher but we really need the offline option, this is not facebook.

Comment by juusow

on 2014-07-13T09:42:59-05:00

Very nice

Comment by Arithil

on 2014-07-13T10:31:23-05:00

How do i know if i am in the contest after completing the survey? I don't even know if i wrote my username right and i cant check if i did. :/ And when is the contest over? Or maybe i am just stupid.But i like the launcher. Its nice being able to chat even when i am not playing. But sometimes a offline option would be nice?

Comment by Ketraso

on 2014-07-13T11:08:33-05:00

Nice One :D It looks Pretty cool

Comment by Xhavolf

on 2014-07-13T13:15:37-05:00

Good luck to everybody entering. Although, I could use the enchanted fey dragon. Um, good luck to me and the rest of the 4 fey's, good luck winning,

Comment by Mayer

on 2014-07-13T13:59:35-05:00

the launcer needs an appear offline option

Comment by Velorum

on 2014-07-13T14:09:44-05:00

In future surveys you should probably not assume the person being surveyed wants to own a console. You're actually giving the option to say you don't own any, then immediately after ask a question that can cannot be honestly answered by anyone who doesn't want to own one.

Comment by Kaelene

on 2014-07-13T15:07:08-05:00

Haven't had a problem with the Launcher yet (*crosses fingers*). Good luck everyone!

Comment by essmene

on 2014-07-13T16:02:47-05:00

Regarding the BNet App:Big Data for Blizzard and no option to opt out - with lots of advertisement options. "Hey buddy you have WoW selected, but there is a SC2 sale up. - ...."

I never used the Wow launchter, but launched the game directly from a short cut - unless it was patchday.

Hopefully there will be an ad-block extension for the launcher - I mean I have paid and am paying for it - WoW is not free to play where I would tolerate the advertisement.

Comment by Kowan

on 2014-07-13T16:18:26-05:00

This looks verry nice and it's great :)

Comment by IllusiveConman

on 2014-07-13T16:33:12-05:00

not too impressed with the new weapon models, swear some of them are way too familiar for my liking

Comment by Wintha

on 2014-07-13T17:10:51-05:00

Best of luck to all of you ;)

Comment by Rainel

on 2014-07-13T17:42:48-05:00

Long story short: Please add an "invisible/offline" feature, Blizzard. I love my BN friends, but sometimes I also like mindless privacy. Haha. For now I'll latch onto my old school launcher until they finally kill it.